Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt

Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt
Grades
9-12
Overview:
Students identify key information about plate tectonics by navigating through
multimedia.
Targeted Alaska Grade Level Expectations:
Science
[9] SA1.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by asking questions,
predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying, making generalizations,
inferring, and communicating.
[10-11] SA1.1 The student demonstrates an understanding of the processes of science by asking
questions, predicting, observing, describing, measuring, classifying, making generalizations,
analyzing data, developing models, inferring, and communicating.
[9-11] SD2.2 The student demonstrates an understanding of the forces that shape Earth by describing
how the theory of plate tectonics explains the dynamic nature of its surface.
Objective:
The student will research information on plate tectonics by interacting with multimedia files.
Materials:
• MULTIMEDIA FILES: “Earth’s Layers”; “Convection Current”; “Wegener’s Theory”; “Pangaea
Puzzle”; “Moving Crust”; “Sliding Plates”; “Plate Tectonics”; “Divergent”; “Convergent”; “Transform”;
“Plate Boundaries”; “Magma”; “Spreading Centers”; “Trenches”; and “Where Volcanoes Form”
under Unit 4 on the ATEP website (http://www.aktsunami.org/multimedia).
• STUDENT WORKSHEET: “Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt”
Science Basics:
View the Unit 4 multimedia files for this lesson on the ATEP website (http://www.aktsunami.org/multimedia)
to gain a basic understanding of plate tectonics.
Activity Procedure:
Distribute STUDENT WORKSHEET: “Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt.” Ask students to complete the
worksheet by navigating through the multimedia files as directed.
Answers:
1.
Layer crust mantle outer core inner core
Solid or Liquid solid solid liquid solid
2. cool; hot 9. mountain ranges and trenches
3. Pangaea 10. Pacific Plate and North American Plate
5. a. lithosphere. b. asthenosphere. 12. lava
6. plates 13. divergent
7. a. away b. toward c. slide past 14. subducted
8. ridges 15. a. subduction zones b. spreading centers c. hot spots
NOTE: Numbers 4 and 11 do not require answers.
ATEP ©2008 UAF Geophysical Institute C-1 Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt

Name:____________________________________
Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt
Student Worksheet (page 1 of 2)
Grades
9-12
Directions: View the multimedia files in Unit 4 from the ATEP website: http://www.aktsunami.org/
multimedia. Check off each multimedia file you view, and complete each statement or task.
1. q Earth’s Layers
Name the four layers of Earth and classify each one as solid or liquid.
Layer
Solid or Liquid
2. q Convection Current
In the convection currents inside Earth, _____________________________ material sinks and
______________________________ material is pushed upward.
3. q Wegener’s Theory
The name of the supercontinent in Alfred Wegener’s theory is _____________________________.
4. q Pangaea Puzzle
5. q Moving Crust
a. The solid layer formed by Earth’s crust and the top of the mantle is the ____________________.
b. The soft, jelly-like layer of the mantle is the _________________________________________.
6. q Sliding Plates
Convection currents break the lithosphere into pieces called ______________________________.
7. q Plate Tectonics
Name the three ways plates may move at their boundaries.
a. ______________________ b. ______________________ c. ______________________
ATEP ©2008 UAF Geophysical Institute C-2 Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt

Name:____________________________________
Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt
Student Worksheet (page 2 of 2)
Grades
9-12
8. q Divergent
What type of landform forms at divergent boundaries on oceanic crust? ______________________
9. q Convergent
What two types of landforms form at convergent boundaries?
_____________________________________ and ______________________________________
10. q Transform
Which two plates slide past each other on the San Andreas Fault?
_____________________________________ and ______________________________________
11. q Plate Boundaries
12. q Magma
When it reaches Earth’s surface, magma is called ______________________________________.
13. q Spreading Centers
Midocean ridges form at ___________________________ plate boundaries. These form new
ocean floor.
14. q Trenches
Old ocean floor is _______________________________ or pushed down into trenches.
15. q Where Volcanoes Form
Where do volcanoes form?
a. ______________________ b. ______________________ c. ______________________
ATEP ©2008 UAF Geophysical Institute C-3 Plate Tectonics Scavenger Hunt